Tag Archive for bikeshare

Morning Links: LimeBikes dockless bikeshare lands in LA, and work underway on Arroyo Seco bike path

November 7, 2017 / / 11 comments

They’re here.

Just one day after the unexpected announcement that ofo had introduced dockless bikeshare to Griffith Park, came the equally unexpected announcement that LimeBike had established a beachfront in Councilmember Joe Buscaino’s 15th District.

According to a press release, LimeBike has partnered with Buscaino for a three-month pilot program, calling it the first time a dockless bikeshare company has operated in any of America’s five biggest markets.

Or maybe the second, since it comes a day after ofo’s landing in the City of Angels.

The bikes cost $1 for 30 minutes, or 50 cents for students; entering the code LIMELA after downloading the iOS or Android app will get you 25 free rides until November 20th. The bikes can be picked up anywhere one is available, and left anywhere once you’re finished.

Low income residents can pay just $5 a month for up to 100 rides, with an option for cash rather than credit card.

Meanwhile, CiclaValley searches for, and finds, the ofo outposts in Griffith Park — and nearby, on someone’s lawn.

And the Guardian looks at the epic battle being pitched behind the scenes between Silicon Valley-backed bikeshares like LimeBike, and their Chinese competitors, including ofo.

Let’s hope Angelenos take better care of the bikes than people have in other cities; bikes abandoned in creeks and trees could mean the end of what promises to be a very useful program that could benefit a lot of people.

And help make bicycling more accessible to everyone.

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Bike SGV posts proof that the South Pasadena extension of the Arroyo Seco bike and pedestrian path is on its way.

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Over 500 Phoenix-area cyclists turned out to honor former SoCal resident and Big Orange cyclist Rob Dollar, who was killed by a drunk and stoned teenage driver last week.

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Sad news, as promising 20-year old Belgian cyclist Bjarne Vanacker was found dead after apparently passing away in his sleep from unknown causes.

Alberto Contador looks at the changes in pro cycling over his career as he prepares to retire, including climbing 30% grades and the advent of motor doping.

Bicycling talks with SoCal’s own Coryn Rivera, saying she has the potential to become America’s best ever bike racer. Which would mean surpassing a certain Texan, who once was great but officially isn’t anymore.

Cycling News talks with former great American hope Andrew Talansky as he transitions to tri.

And probably not the best idea to attack the members of another cycling team, even if you do blame their team car for your crash.

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Local

Paranoid much? A dermatologist and Mar Vista Community Council member says the Venice Blvd Great Streets project is just a secret attempt to turn Mar Vista into another Wilshire Blvd.

A Medium post says the effort to recall Councilmember Mike Bonin is really an Alt-Right campaign in disguise, and calls recall leader Alexis Edelstein a flesh and blood version of a Russian Facebook bot.

The LACBC’s Operation Firefly light distribution campaign kicks off tonight in Van Nuys.

Claremont police are investigating a break-in at the Jax Bicycle Shop last week.

Long Beach will consider a road diet and parking protected bike lanes on a half-mile stretch of Alamitos Ave. Unlike Los Angeles, where road diets are in danger of becoming an endangered species.

 

State

The Voice of San Diego looks at how that city screwed up bikesharing.

San Francisco will vote on a proposal to remove parking spaces on 17th Street to install one-way protected bike lanes.

Sacramento State University campus police busted a pair of suspected serial bike thieves.

The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for the arrest of a Davis-area woman who apparently fled to Mexico after being convicted of vehicular manslaughter for a 2014 hit-and-run that killed a bike rider.

 

National

Streetsblog says distracted walking is a distraction from the real problem of distracted driving.

A crowdfunding campaign is offering a chance to buy a new $2,000 electric foldie for just $499. Unless you’d rather travel to Europe to buy a new BMW ebike for over six times as much.

A Portland letter writer complains about a red light-running, dog pulling bike rider who managed to flip him off anyway.

A Dallas writer says riding on carfree streets was great, unless you were in one.

A kindhearted Wisconsin woman gave her own three-wheeled adult bike to an 80-year old woman after hers was stolen in a burglary.

A Brooklyn writer says ebikes could be the future of transportation, but no one wants to let them on the road.

A HuffPo writer calls protected bike lane networks, like the one in Brooklyn, a breakthrough to make bicycling easy for almost everyone. Meanwhile, CityLab says European cities like Paris, Madrid and Lisbon have figured out how to live with ebikes, so why can’t New York?

A New Yorker movingly remembers a friend killed in last week’s bike path terrorist attack.

No surprise here, as Juli Briskman was fired from her job with a Virginia government contractor after they learned she was the bike rider who flipped off the president last week. Which doesn’t make it right. Thanks to David Drexler for the heads-up.

A Philadelphia writer learns how to ride a bike as an adult.

Buy a special North Carolina license plate, and help give a kid a new bike helmet. Although giving the kid a safer place to ride his bike would probably help a lot more.

Atlanta is attempting to become a top ten bicycling city, which would mean jumping 33 spots in Bicycling’s latest rankings.

Miami police are looking for a cape-wearing, bike-riding armed robber who shot his victim in the face.

A Florida paper examines the benefits of bike paths in terms of health, financial investment and crime, noting that rails-to-trails conversions generally have lower crime rates than the abandoned railways they replaced.

 

International

An Argentine city is mourning the deaths of five residents killed in the New York bike path terrorist attack, while the president of Argentina placed flowers at the site of the attack.

Toronto’s bike-riding parking cop is still off the job, and off Twitter, giving drivers a chance to park in the bike lanes again.

Montreal elects a new bike-friendly mayor, the first woman to lead the city.

A British dog walker uses his cam to record what he considers dangerous, speeding cyclists riding illegally through a park. Although they appear to be riding safely, slowly and considerately, even if they’re not supposed to be there.

An Australian website asks if Adelaide’s future as a bike-friendly city is already in its past.

 

Finally…

A cycling kit for bike-riding Beyoncé fans. Riding backwards while pedaling forwards.

And it might surprise many women to learn that riding a bicycle 75 miles is harder than childbirth.

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On a personal note, my wife will be having major surgery this week to correct a condition that has the potential to be life-threatening.

I’ll do my best to keep up with this site every day, but please accept my apologies in advance if I miss a day or two, or have to settle for a shortened post.

And if anyone would like to submit a guest post, now would be a great time to do it.

 

Category: Bikeshare, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Dockless bikeshare comes to Griffith Park, the death of Vision Zero, and hope for Beverly Hills

November 6, 2017 / / 3 comments

Just days after a false alarm that the LimeBike dockless bikeshare had come to LA, Chinese dockless bikeshare provider ofo has apparently invaded our city.

Despite the fact that a proposed ordinance that would permit dockless bikeshare hasn’t yet made it to a single city council committee hearing.

Ofo tweeted Sunday morning, then deleted, that they were now live in Griffith Park.

They followed that up with a tweet saying they were partnering with the LA Department of Recreation and Parks to provide an easier way to ride through the park.

Brian Nelson confirmed that his wife saw four of the ofo bikes parked near the Greek Theater.

How that conforms to Councilmember David Ryu’s motion to permit privately owned dockless bikeshare in the city remains to be seen.

Especially since other providers, including LimeBike, are waiting patiently for their opportunity to come into the city.

It’s inevitable that dockless bikeshare will come to Los Angeles. The question is how — or if — it will be managed to avoid the problems that have plagued other cities.

Thanks to Erik Griswold and Zachary Rynew for the tips.

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The LA Weekly asks if LA’s ambitious Vision Zero plan to end traffic fatalities is already dead. And accurately quotes the very pissed off author of this site.

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I happened to run into Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse at the city’s Woofstock dog fest on Sunday, and was encouraged to hear her say that the coming bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd are just the start.

As she tweeted later, she’s looking forward to more bike lanes and better mobility throughout the city.

Maybe there’s hope for the former Biking Black Hole yet.

At least as long as she’s in office.

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More on last week’s New York bike path terrorist attack.

A mass was held at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral to honor the victims of the attack.

Bicyclists say the new K-rail protective barriers make the bike path less safe.

A writer for Time says the terrorist’s fearmongering has failed, while Cycling Tips captures the fear and emotion brought on by the attack.

Actor Jason Biggs lets the terrorist know what he really thinks.

And radical right scumbag firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos said “he was glad the only people hit were cyclists and ‘not actual human beings.’” Thanks to F. Lehnerz for the link.

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In Alberto Contador’s case, the N + 1 formula for how many bikes you need equals 42 or 43.

Nobody said working through the details for the Giro’s 2018 Jerusalem start would be easy.

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Local

If you ride the Rose Bowl loop, you owe it to yourself to attend tomorrow night’s meeting of the Pasadena City Council Parks and Recreation Committee, where the future of the popular riding route will be up for discussion. Thanks to Wesley Reutimann for the heads-up. Correction: This originally said it was a City Council meeting; thanks to Bike SGV for the correction.

With the help of a Metro grant, Bike SGV has formed what could be SoCal’s first bicycle traffic school in El Monte.

Manhattan Beach officials and the Manhattan Beach-based leader of Keep LA Moving —no irony there — are unhappy with the way the reversal of the Playa del Rey road diets is going, even though they won the battle. Apparently, they won’t be satisfied until the streets are deadly again.

The Long Beach Police Department has received a grant for traffic safety enforcement over the next year, including a focus on bike and pedestrian safety.

 

State

The Orange County Register correctly notes that the end of daylight savings time increases the dangers to drivers and pedestrians. Wrecks go up after the time change, so make sure you use lights after dark, and ride as if everyone else on the road is driving distracted and half asleep. Which they probably are.

A Chino Hills man rides to collect recyclables, tossing them into a trailer behind his bike, while yelling out to passing people to drive safely.

Los Angeles isn’t the only city being sued by bike riders for injuries caused by bad streets; San Diego is currently facing a trio of lawsuits.

A woman in San Diego’s Mira Mesa neighborhood was seriously injured when a tow truck driver rammed her bike as he left a parking lot.

The great bike debate goes on in the pages of the San Luis Obispo newspaper, as a letter writer says encouraging bicycling provides a great value for bicyclists, as well as the drivers we share the roads with.

A San Francisco street near Golden Gate Park is being converted into a “neighborway,” diverting and calming motor vehicle traffic to improve bike and pedestrian safety. Which sounds a lot like a bike boulevard by any other name.

Instead of the usual complaints that fire engines can’t get through narrow streets with bulb outs and protected bike lanes, San Francisco buys a more compact fire truck that can.

 

National

A BuzzFeed writer calls for banning cars from big cities; a conservative website seems to think it’s a leftist plot.

The Felt behind Felt evidently felt it was time to leave Felt.

Funk-meister Bootsy Collins quit drugs after being told he’d never play bass again when he flipped his road bike several times while riding high in the woods. And no, that’s not a reference to altitude.

Kindhearted Washington residents pitch in to buy new Air Jordans for a teenage Canadian tourist after his were stolen by a BMX-riding man armed with bear spray.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An Iowa man rode his bike 90 miles to celebrate his upcoming 90th birthday.

Police in Stillwater, Oklahoma are repairing abandoned bicycles to be used by residents of a local mission to run errands or look for work.

Nope, nothing odd about Kentucky Senator Rand Paul being attacked in his home by his bike-riding, rice vest-inventing next door neighbor; Paul suffered five broken ribs and bruised lungs.

Grist says Pittsburgh got the bike advocate it never knew it needed in former Trojan JuJu Smith-Schuster

Life is cheap in Florida, where a driver got five years probation for a fatal hit-and-run that killed a bicyclist. Naturally, he claimed he had no idea he’d hit anyone.

 

International

British Columbia considers raising their paltry $81 fine for dooring a bicyclist.

Montreal’s mayor denies he used his influence to muzzle a Toronto parking officer’s popular Twitter account, which he uses to call out scofflaw drivers; the officer vows he won’t be silenced after officials suspend his account. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.

The co-founder of the aforementioned ofo says London will one day reach Amsterdam-like bicycling levels. You’ll note he did not say the same thing about Los Angeles. Or anywhere else in Southern California.

A new British study says bike commuting can lower your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, as well as overall mortality. As much as I’ve ridden over the years, I should live forever.

A driver in Britain complains about a bike rider’s misaligned, too-bright headlamp. Evidently, no one in the country has ever been blinded by a driver’s headlights.

Evidently, they don’t take using a car as a weapon seriously in the UK, either. But they do take DUIs seriously, sentencing a drunk driver who killed a cyclist to eight years.

Bicycling helped a British teenager control his epilepsy.

The rich get richer. Bike-friendly Copenhagen asks bike riders to identify where they feel uncomfortable riding to determine where infrastructure needs to be improved.

Now you, too, can take an eight-day cooking and bicycling tour of Sicily led by celebrity chefs Traci Des Jardins and Mary Sue Milliken for a mere $4,595.

An Australian website asks if bicyclists and pedestrians should be banned from using headphones. Never mind that drivers in today’s hermetically sealed motor vehicles have a hard time hearing a siren right next to them, even with the sound system turned down.

An Aussie paper traces the anatomy of a fatal hit-and-run, and how the police tracked down the unlicensed driver who killed a bicyclist.

A rider from Down Under learns the hard way not to accept fruit juice from his friends without asking if they’d spiked it.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to stare at a woman’s chest when there’s a Google Maps camera car driving by. You know you’ve made it when you get mentioned in the GOP tax bill.

And don’t ride your bike down an escalator without a helmet.

 

Category: Bikeshare, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Dockless bikeshare isn’t here yet, more on NYC bike path attack, and goodbye LAist

November 3, 2017 / / 2 comments

For a moment, it looked like dockless bikeshare had arrived in LA.

Even if it’s not entirely legal yet.

Marc, aka @mcas_LA, tweeted a pair of photos showing a fleet of LimeBikes in the Jewelry District in DTLA, even though the proposed ordinance to legalize dockless bikeshare hadn’t made it through the city council yet.

Alas, it was not to be.

Not yet, anyway.

LimeBike was quick to respond that the bikes were being test-ridden by their employees at a private event, and that they would never launch Uber-style without waiting for the proper permits.

So you’ll just have to wait awhile longer.

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New York is responding to Tuesday’s terrorist attack by installing K-rail barriers at 57 intersections, including the one that Sayfullo Saipov used to drive onto the bike path.

A bill in the US Senate would provide $50 million a year to install bollards, planters and other barriers along bikeways to protect cyclists. Get back to me when they get serious; $50 million works out to a token gesture of just $1 million per state.

A student injured when Saipov’s rented truck crashed into a school attended class on Wednesday to keep his record for perfect attendance.

A writer for Opposing Views considers what the attack says about bike safety.

In an Op-Ed in the Washington Post, Eben Weiss, aka Bike Snob, writes that a terrorist attack isn’t going to scare bicyclists off their bikes because we already have to deal with motorists.

And it hasn’t stopped them, as New Yorkers flocked to the pathway when it reopened yesterday.

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You can kiss LAist goodbye. The billionaire publisher of the “ist” and DNAinfo sites pulled the plug on the entire network yesterday, taking down all the archives at the same time.

The site had regularly written about bike issues, and been a supporter of safer streets in Los Angeles, and other cities around the world.

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that the closure came after employees had voted to unionize.

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Local

Streeetsblog’s Joe Linton and Damien Newton correct the pernicious lie that Mike Bonin somehow stole money from the Measure M transportation tax to fund Vision Zero.

The LACBC’s Operation Firefly kicks off in Van Nuys next week, providing lights to bike riders who don’t have them.

The Pasadena Star-News asks if new trains, busways and bike lanes can end SoCal gridlock. Short answer, no. With more people bringing more cars here every year, our street will continue to be clogged. The only solution is to provide alternatives to driving, so the people who choose to leave their cars at home won’t be stuck in that mess.

Authorities are looking for funding to build a roundabout at the intersection of Highway 39 and the Old San Gabriel Canyon Road above Azusa to slow traffic and provide a safe extension to the San Gabriel River Trail, which currently dead ends at the roadway.

Helen’s Cycles is holding a trio of rides this weekend, while Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare celebrates its second anniversary on Saturday. And CicLAvia hosts their 2nd Annual pLAy Day in LA fundraiser on Sunday.

 

State

Nice piece in the LA Daily News about the recently completed, 450-mile Challenge Ride from San Francisco for wounded vets, including a former four-star Army Chief of Staff helping an injured ex-private up a hill.

The owner of a Coronado bike rental company opposes a proposal to allow LimeBike to operate on the island.

Bakersfield has received $200,000 in funding from Kern County for a number of bike-related projects, including bike parking in the downtown area, and the Build-A-Bike program that allows kids to earn a bicycle while learning about bike maintenance and repair.

San Luis Obispo is moving forward with plans for 50 new bicycling facilities, including buffered bike lanes and a bike boulevard, to fundamentally change the way people in the community get around.

Kindhearted Visalia residents pitched in to buy a new ebike for a legally blind teenager after the one he got for his 16th birthday was stolen.

A San Jose columnist says a planned bike and pedestrian bridge is a key link to improve safety, even if a letter writer considers it a waste of money.

A San Francisco man was critically injured when a bike rider opened fire on the victim following an argument; the suspect was arrested nearby.

San Francisco protesters create a people-protected bike lane on the Embarcadero to call attention to the need for greater safety.

 

National

People for Bikes offers four reasons why businesses should embrace ebikes.

A Seattle magazine says it’s good that dockless bikeshare bikes are being abandoned in trees, because it removes the moral superiority of bicycling, and makes it seem like it an everyday activity. Which it already is.

Over 8,000 people are expected to attend Denver’s one-day VeloSwap bike swap meet and expo this weekend.

A Dallas columnist says relax, and give dockless bikeshare time to work itself out.

Former cyclist Sinead Miller is now working with Nashville’s Vanderbilt University to put an end to sepsis, after ending her pro career when she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a collision.

A driver tried to run over a group of Miami police officers on a weekly community ride, and apparently got away.

 

International

An Op-Ed in Canadian Cyclist Magazine calls out the special status of drivers, and says laws that make a cyclist’s life cheap have to be changed.

Glasgow’s Philippa York says she would have gladly given up the fame that came with her cycling career as the former Robert Millar in order to transition to a woman when she was younger.

 

Finally…

Oprah is one of us, even if one of her favorite things looks suspiciously like a ghost bike. And evidently, the painkiller Tramadol will make you faster.

Even if it has the opposite effect on me.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Bikeshare in the news, no justice for a fallen Brooklyn rider, and crowdfunding a kids bike book

October 18, 2017 / / One comment

Once again, today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Dockless bikeshare continues to boom in Seattle, as the city’s two providers increase to 3,000 bikes apiece.

Baltimore’s bikeshare system is sort of back, with just 50 bikes at nine stations; a much larger system was shut down a few months ago due to problems with vandalism and theft.

DC could soon pass Portland as the nation’s bicycling capital, thanks in part to thriving bikeshare, though advocates question whether it has the infrastructure to support it.

Melbourne has new rules for dockless bikeshare to keep bikes from ending up in the river.

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A New York woman concludes her hard-hitting series of articles on the death of her sister in a Brooklyn collision. And the runaround her family received from the NYPD and judicial system in trying to learn what happened and getting any sort of justice.

If you can call a 90-day license suspension justice.

Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for heads-up.

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You have just 13 days to help fund a new children’s book about bicycles, and the animals that ride them.

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Bicycling says the cobblestoned 2018 Tour de France could be the best in recent history.

The LA Times says Chris Froome could face a challenge from Tom Dumoulin as he goes for a record-tying fifth win in the Tour de France. Could have sworn I once watched some guy win seven consecutive tours, but I must have been on something.

Speaking of Froome, he was awarded the Velo d’Or as the best cyclist of 2017.

A new documentary about pro cyclist Rose Osborne proves it is possible to quit happily.

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Local

Sad news from Boyle Heights, where one bike rider was killed and another injured in a shooting early yesterday morning.

South Pasadena will consider improvements to Monterrey Road at tonight’s council meeting, including bike lanes and better sidewalks. Thanks to Bike SGV for the tip.

West Hollywood’s Community Development Department has created a plan to increase business and livability in the city’s Eastside, including bike and pedestrian improvements. Although proposals to add parking are more likely to induce traffic.

 

State

Garden Grove’s Hazard Ave will get a pop-up separated bike lane this Saturday, along with other activities for adults and kids designed to spark a conversation about how the street can be improved to make walking and biking safer and more fun.

The 450-mile Project Hero Road 2 Recovery Bike Tour stops in Salinas on its way down the coast; the ride raises awareness of PTSD and other mental illnesses faced by veterans.

Former pro Levi Leipheimer is helping send 1,000 kids bikes to Sonoma County to replace bicycles lost in the recent fires — despite losing his own home.

An Op-Ed in the Sacramento Bee says the city must become more pro-bicycle if it’s going to have any chance of landing the new Amazon headquarters. Which is why Los Angeles doesn’t have a prayer.

 

National

Bloomberg says government data is missing the mark when it comes to distracted driving, suggesting it’s the most likely cause of the recent spike in traffic fatalities involving bicyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Soon your solar powered helmet could call for help when you crash. Or if you throw your helmet at the car that just ran you off the road.

Strava is now turning into even more of a social media, allowing members to post to the site just like the pros do.

Men’s Journal lists the ten best places to ride your bike this fall. None of which are in California.

City Lab says if you drive less than 10,000 miles a year, you’re better off using Uber or Lyft than owning a car. Or you could just, you know, ride a bike, instead.

Chicago is finally completing a bike and pedestrian bridge that had been blocked by long–serving alderman, possibly for racial reasons.

 

International

British Columbia bike advocates propose higher penalties for negligent and aggressive drivers, as well as drivers who door or harass bike riders. Maybe we can copy it here in California.

The CBC profiles a Manitoba maker of custom adaptive bicycles, who changes lives by giving disabled people a chance to ride.

A kindhearted Canadian bike shop owner gives a six-year old girl a new bike and helmet after hers was destroyed in a collision that left her seriously injured.

An American man could face charges for the death of a rising young bike racer in Toronto earlier this month.

A new report says Toronto courier and delivery companies should use more cargo bikes. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.

Britain’s rabid tabloid press is likely to seize on a new survey showing half of all respondents think bicyclists should have to take a proficiency test; 86% want harsher penalties for scofflaw cyclists, and 59% think bikes should have license plates.

Speaking of the British press, the media distorts the risk bike riders pose to pedestrians, while downplaying the risks riders face.

British police are looking for a road raging bicyclist who tried to stop a motorcycle and snatch the keys, then pushed the rider off his bike, breaking both his legs.

A Dutch city opens what may be the world’s first 3D printed bike bridge.

When the new BMW is set in semi-autonomous mode, it’s designed to pass bicyclists at a dangerously close distance unless drivers use their turn signals. Which LA drivers seem to be pathologically incapable of doing.

New research shows that people in Australia’s Victoria state don’t ride bikes for exactly the same reasons people just about anywhere else don’t.

Caught on video: Aussie police are looking for an idiot driver — and I use the term advisedly — who drove up on the sidewalk to pass slower traffic, nearly running down a bike rider in the process.

 

Finally…

Always carry a selfie stick to defend yourself from creepy clowns when riding your bike. Don’t ask drivers to put down their phones; just spray yourself with reflective paint until you glow like a clown, creepy or otherwise, so maybe they’ll see you anyway.

And evidently, cyclocross isn’t just a ride in the park.

 

Category: Bikeshare, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Upcoming bike events, curbside protected parking lane, and bikeshare demands infrastructure

October 6, 2017 / / One comment

Let’s catch up with a few upcoming bike events we haven’t mentioned yet.

The Agoura Hills/Westlake Village Century Bike Ride rolls tomorrow to benefit wounded vets and the fight against diabetes.

The weekend’s can’t miss event takes place when CicLAvia rolls, walks, runs, skates and scoots through the Heart of LA this Sunday; Bike Walk Glendale will hold a feeder ride, while the Militant Angeleno has updated his epic guide to reflect the updated route. Once again, other obligations will keep me from attending, so feel free to send us any photos or information from the event.

Helen’s Cycles will hold a no-drop women’s mountain bike ride on the 15th.

West Covina will host an open house to discuss the city’s draft pedestrian/bike plan on the 25th.

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Sunicycler sends this reminder from Venice Blvd that protected bike lanes are an IQ test, which too many drivers fail.

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Once again, today’s common theme is bikeshare.

As LA considers legalizing dockless bikeshare, DC is quickly discovering that people leave dockless bikes in all the wrong places.

Singapore’s experience is no different, deciding that bikes will now have to be left at designated parking zones scattered throughout the city.

Melbourne, Australia is crushing dockless bikeshare bikes that are dumped in the wrong places, much to the surprise of the company responsible for them.

And the LACBC’s new executive director writes that bikeshare needs infrastructure to go with it.

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A Scottish paper says fair or not, the pay raise recently given to male cyclists sends a message that women’s cycling is not valued. That’s because it’s not, unfortunately.

Business Insider talks with the great Katie Compton about cyclocross, naps and the challenges of being a woman athlete.

Recently retired cyclist Andrew Talansky is going to try tri.

Tragic news from Canada, where an 18-year old bike racer was killed while training when a driver made an illegal U-turn.

And more bad news, as an Iranian master’s racer was killed in a collision while training for the Master’s Track Cycling World Championships, to be held here in LA next week.

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Local

The Community Director for the Mar Vista Community Council takes a deep dive into SWITRS data, and concludes that five traffic deaths and 16 serious injuries is no big deal.

By the time you read this, the Ballona Creek bike path should be reopened through Culver City.

Burbank students take part in the national Walk and Bike to School Day.

 

State

An Orcutt father is looking for the jerk driver who fled the scene after crashing into the back of his 14-year old daughter’s bike as she rode to school.

Will Farrell is one of us, as he takes a five-day bicycling tour of San Luis Obispo County. Sadly, Jessica Biel, Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Garner, who are also visiting the Central Coast county, apparently aren’t.

Hanford says lock your bike to a rack, or it will be impounded.

Sad news from San Jose, where a 15-year old boy died after crashing his bike into a tree last week.

Three Lodi cyclists were injured, one critically, when they were run down from behind by a driver who fled the scene.

An Oroville man faces charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, fleeing a pursuing officer’s vehicle while driving recklessly, and fleeing the scene of a vehicular manslaughter after running down a bicyclist on Wednesday.

 

National

A new AAA study says yes, those in-dash infortainment systems lead to distracted driving, just like we suspected.

Studies show that any form of exercise that raises your heart rate and keeps you moving — like bicycling — is the closest thing we have to a miracle drug.

Now you can have your very own $150 nanotube-lubed bike chain.

Bicycling looks at the sad state of distracted driving laws across the US, including California’s exceptionally low $20 fine. You can thank Governor Brown’s veto pen for that; he blocked a bill that would have increased the fine, saying the current penalty was high enough. Which is clearly wrong, since it doesn’t seem to stop anyone.

A Salt Lake City cop has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of a black bike rider, who was initially stopped for not having a rear taillight; the victim allegedly pulled a knife on officers as they tried to arrest him on outstanding warrants.

A 16-year old Minnesota driver faces charges for swerving off the road and killing a bike rider while she was Snapchatting behind the wheel.

Despite repeated complaints and negative press coverage, New York cops continue to park in bike lanes, because they can.

The Orlando FL paper offers tips on how to ride in the rain. Because sooner or later, it will. Even here.

 

International

Mexico City’s new bike mayor says bicycles are the key to reducing gridlock.

The UK’s Cycling Minister says they only want to make the roads safe for everyone, after a writer for the Guardian accused him of “headline-grabbing hypocrisy” in calling for cyclists to behave. But at least British politicians only grab headlines.

A London church is trying to pray the bikeway away.

Caught on video: An Aussie driver rear-ends a bike rider, throwing him through the air, yet gets off without even a ticket because police say no offense was committed. Evidently, slamming into people and things from behind is perfectly legal Down Under. The video shows the actual impact, so be sure you really want to see it before you click the link.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to steal an unused bike, at least brush the cobwebs off yourself before you ride away. People have been trying to bike on water since the ‘60s. No, the 1860s.

And try to get in as much riding as possible this next week on the off chance the world really does come to an end.

 

Category: Bike Events, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Backsliding on road diets and bike lanes in Playa del Rey, and dockless bikeshare in LA

October 4, 2017 / / 5 comments

So much for that.

Councilmember Mike Bonin has announced plans to scrap the road diet on Jefferson and Culver Blvds in Playa del Rey. New plans call for removing the bike lanes and restoring one westbound lane; bikes and pedestrians will now share a single “protected” shoulder on one side.

Needless to say, the anti-road diet forces were quick to claim victory.

Which means we might as well give up on Vision Zero and the mobility plan; they mean absolutely nothing if every safety improvement can get reversed if drivers don’t like it.

Photo of Culver Blvd from Streetsblog LA.

………

Councilmember David Ryu has introduced a motion that could allow dockless bikeshare in the City of Los Angeles.

Ryu’s motion would instruct LADOT and Bureau of Street Services to work with the City Attorney to develop a pilot program to test dockless bikeshare in the city; according to LAist, LADOT has already been in discussions with various bikeshare providers.

 

The problem with that is the people using those bikes will need safe places to ride, which they won’t find in Ryu’s district.

While he hasn’t actively opposed key bike lanes like some of his colleagues, he’s also done little or nothing to move them forward, in a distract starved for safe bicycle access.

And he has blocked implementation of a long planned and desperately needed road diet on 6th Street between Fairfax and LaBrea, despite the strong support of the local neighborhood council.

We’ll have more on that tomorrow.

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Heal the Bay is hosting a free, casual bike ride to explore Ballona Creek and the Ballona Wetlands this Saturday.

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Today’s common theme, collisions between people on bikes and on foot.

A woman in Spokane WA says she was run down by a bike rider while walking on a trail, and claims it may have been intentional because he was angry afterwards.

Two people — most likely a bicyclist and pedestrian — were injured in a crash on a popular Chicago pathway.

A British man is criticizing the police investigation of the collision that killed his wife, even though the bike rider who crashed into her as she crossed the street appears to have been riding legally at the time of the crash.

………

The war on bikes goes on.

In a horrifying case, a Kansas driver is facing a first-degree premeditated murder charge after admitting that he intentionally sped up to run a bike rider down.

A North Carolina driver has been charged with simple assault for repeatedly punching a cyclist in the face after attempting to run him off the road; the one-sided fisticuffs were caught on dashcam video.

And a road raging driver drove onto a bike path in an attempt to deliberately run down an Australian bike rider, then made a U-turn to come after her again before she escaped by riding into traffic and hiding in the bushes.

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In non-bike news, Streetsblog LA founder Damien Newton has formed a group attempting to raise $1 million to buy the Santa Monica Daily Press, and run it as a non-profit.

As causes go, you could do a lot worse with your money.

………

Once again, a cyclist blows a win by celebrating too soon. Though the site’s description of him as cocky and showboating seem pretty far off base.

Italian cyclist Stefano Pirazzi has been banned for four years for doping before the Giro d’Italia, joining a long line recent busted dopers. Which begs the question of whether the doping era is really over, or if cycling teams have just gotten better at hiding it.

Busted French motor doper Cyril Fontayne says he’s not the only one cheating by using a small electric motor hidden inside a bike frame, although he claims he was only using it to help his sciatica.

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Local

Streetsblog looks at UCLA’s new 130-bike bikeshare system.

LA Magazine says changes have to be made to make walking to the Grove and Beverly Center from the coming Purple Line a less frightening and dangerous experience. The same goes for riding a bike, as well.

Santa Monica has installed new bike boxes at the intersections of Broadway and 11th and Ocean and California.

The Santa Monica College student paper offers advice on how to get started and stay safe riding a bike.

Long Beach bike shop City Grounds has closed down it East Village retail outlet after nine years.

 

State

Governor Brown signed a bill making it legal to cross in a crosswalk while the timer is counting down, as long as you get to the other side before it expires. However, the law does not apply to older crossing signals without a timer.

San Francisco passes an otherwise toothless ordinance allowing authorities to confiscate bikes from bicycle chop shops, but without any legal consequences; homeless advocates object because selling bicycles that may or may not belong to them is one of the few ways homeless people can earn money.

A new pilot program will allow ebikes on three paved trails in the East Bay area.

Bike advocates from around the state are converging on Sacramento for Calbike’s annual California Bicycle Summit.

 

National

Bad ideas never die. A new bike is renewing the idea of a propelling a bicycle by moving the handlebars as well as pedaling, despite other failed attempts.

A bike-riding Illinois boy is a hero, after riding for help when he spotted a neighbor’s house on fire.

A Detroit woman out for an early morning bike ride was abducted, robbed and sexually assaulted by two men in a van. A tragic reminder that women face risks on the road that male riders don’t.

AAA is now offering bicycle services in the Detroit area. Meanwhile, SoCal AAA still doesn’t seem to understand that a lot of their customers ride bikes, too — and they might have more customers if they did.

The New York Times considers how to bike commute and stay fashionably dressed at work.

 

International

Cycling Weekly shares stories of bike riders who came to the rescue of others.

A British Columbia deer could face charges for assault on a bike-riding police officer, however, it may be hard to find without a license plate.

No surprise here. A new report shows half of the collisions on an Ottawa, Canada bike path result from right hooks; a Toronto paper offers advice on how to avoid those, and other road hazards.

Caught on video: A mountain biker takes a knife-edge ride across an Austrian mountain ridge.

In a landmark case, a South African driver has been sentenced to three years for a fatal hit-and-run; it marks the first time a driver has been sentenced for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider in that country.

 

Finally…

Apparently, not riding your bike really can drive you crazy. Seriously, don’t believe the navigation system on your phone.

And Chinese dockless bikeshare giants Mobike and Ofo are in merger talks.

Let’s hope they do. And call the new company Mofo.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Bike SGV advocate Brian Velez passes away, new Vision Zero ad, and tips on videoing cops

October 2, 2017 / / One comment

More tragic news.

As if there wasn’t enough last week, the Los Angeles bicycling community suffered another big loss when one of the area’s leading advocates passed away unexpectedly.

Bike SGV reports that Brian Velez, outreach coordinator for the San Gabriel Valley advocacy group, died last Wednesday from an undiagnosed illness.

Velez also served as the co-host of Streetsblog’s SGV Connect podcast, as well as creating artwork for his blog.

He was just 33.

He is survived by his parents and his sister Diane, who worked with him as the Safe Routes coordinator for Bike SGV.

A scholarship fund is beingcreated in his name, and a memorial ride will be held in his honor on October 15th; you can find information on both on the Bike SGV website.

I hope you’ll join me in offering our deepest sympathy and prayers for Brian Velez, and all those who loved him.

………

Vision Zero Los Angeles punts on its first TV spot, using LA Rams punter Johnny Hekker and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to call on drivers to watch their speed and pay more attention to people walking and biking.

Not exactly the hard-hitting ad some of us were hoping for.

But as Streetsblog’s Damien Newton reminds us, maybe it will mark a turning point in steering the conversation back to safety.

………

The LAPD offers tips reaffirming your 1st Amendment right to film and photograph police officers in public, and how to avoid getting into trouble in the process.

Which is not to say every officer has gotten the memo, or agrees with it. So you may want to copy print this out and carry it with you or commit it to memory.

………

A couple items were inadvertently left out of last week’s listing of upcoming bike events.

Starting with the 2017 South Bay Cycling Awards, hosted by Cycling in the South Bay author and bike lawyer Seth Davidson. If you make it, say hi to everyone; a great group of people and some very dedicated advocates down there.

The Pomona Valley Bicycle Coalition is holding their 5th Annual Pumpkin Patch Pedal this Sunday.

And the LA Bicycle Advisory Committee meets tomorrow night in Hollywood.

………

Once again, today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Bikeshare has officially opened on the UCLA campus. Your move, USC.

A Venice writer tries out the area’s new Metro Bike bikeshare, and ends up loaning it to a stranger who tried to wrestle it away from her.

As bikeshare flourishes in DC, questions arise of whether the city has the infrastructure to support it.

A bikeshare bike stopped a teenage Australian boy who was terrorizing the public when a bystander threw it under the boy’s SUV, to keep him from running over people on the street.

An Australian professor explains how dockless bikeshare providers actually make money.

………

Another case of motor doping has been uncovered, as a French amateur rider was caught using a motor hidden inside his bicycle.

Former world team time trial champ Carmen Small retired after suffering her third major concussion since 2006.

Retired Spanish cyclist Oscar Freire says pro racing was much harder back in his day. After which he yelled at the kids to get off his lawn.

Trek is credited with giving men and women equal prize money for a recent cyclocross cup, even though cycling’s international governing body doesn’t believe in equal pay for equal results.

Ventura officials see virtually unlimited potential in hosting next year’s Amgen Tour of California.

The Malibu Times reports on last month’s Malibu Triathlon.

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Local

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman writes about her experience with the LACBC’s recent bike and pedestrian count in South LA.

LAist says Angelenos need to atone for routinely driving a half mile when they could walk, bike or take a bus.

New plans to restore the Ballona Wetlands include options that would remove the concrete and restore Ballona Creek to a more natural state, requiring a realignment of the bike path.

Funding for the $20 million bike, pedestrian and equestrian bridge connecting Glendale and Griffith Park has been approved by the state legislature, and is sitting on Governor Brown’s desk awaiting his signature.

South Pasadena will establish a Bicycle Friendly Business District (pdf) in the downtown area, as part of the Bike Friendly San Gabriel Valley program. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up and pdf.

Santa Clarita has installed a solar-powered bike counter along a commuter bike trail.

 

State

San Clemente proposes narrowing existing traffic lanes and installing eight-foot wide buffered bike lanes on Calle Saluda.

San Francisco announces another plan to clear the homeless off a popular bikeway known as the Hairball, after encampments made it nearly impossible to ride through.

Kindhearted Antioch cops teamed with a local bike shop to buy a new bicycle for a 10-year old hit-and-run victim.

A Marin hiker says he was beaten by a trio of mountain bikers who were illegally using a singletrack trail where bikes are prohibited. Seriously, never resort, or respond, to violence except to defend yourself or others.

Modesto plans to sell a $9,000 trained police dog to the family of his handler for just $1, after the officer was killed by a suspected drunk driver while riding his bicycle.

 

National

Ford has patented a method to maintain stability on a bicycle and help keep the rider upright. Which in theory could allow countless people who aren’t comfortable balancing on two wheels to get out and ride.

Life is cheap in Idaho, where a truck driver who killed a bike rider was fined just $90 — yes, nine zero — for “inattentive driving;” the victim’s wife was not even allowed to tell the jury her husband had died as a result of the crash.

Country music star Luke Bryan is one of us, as he takes a tour of Austin TX with America’s most famous ex-Tour de France winner.

An Ohio woman rode 1,900 miles from Ohio to Arizona, recreating the route her son took before he died of Ewing’s sarcoma and acute myeloid leukemia.

A New Hampshire city appoints the country’s first bike mayor.

Buffalo NY bicyclists ride to raise funds and awareness for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. Thanks again to Megan Lynch.

More New York bike couriers are mistakenly riding through the Lincoln tunnel, riding past the signs indicating no bikes in the process.

An 84-year old Virginia man faces charges after making a wide turn at high speed and crashing into a woman carrying three children on her bicycle. Once again bringing up the difficult question of how old is too old to safely drive. And how to get older people off the road once they’ve lost their ability to drive safely, which varies from one person to another.

 

International

A NASA astronaut will join a pair of scientists in bicycling 600 miles across the Amazon to document the effects of climate change.

City Lab reports that bicycles and parks were lifelines for people affected by last month’s Mexico City earthquake. A reminder that owning a bike with durable tires could be a lifesaver for those of us who live in earthquake country.

A hard-hitting piece by a Toronto columnist says the city’s streets are deadly by design. Not unlike the streets of Los Angeles, which some Westside and South Bay drivers are fighting to keep that way.

British bike advocates have mapped out every bicycling fatality in the UK from 2005 to 2016, discovering in the process that roundabouts are risky for bike riders.

Not a hint of eccentricity here. A Welshman is riding 5,000 miles to Africa to follow the swallows that live in his shed.

A UK cyclist calls out his fellow riders for leaving their trash behind on the road. He’s got a point; it always saddens me to see gel wrappers, blown tubes and spent CO2 cartridges littering popular riding routes.

A bicyclist from Malta says he started bike commuting because he wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And lost 30 pounds in the process.

Athletes in Turkmenistan gave the country’s president a golden bicycle, which inexplicably appears to be painted green. Although it’s hard to tell what the story’s really trying to say in its broken English.

Brilliant idea from a South African writer, who says drivers should be given an automatic 15-minute timeout on the side of the road when they get pulled over by police for bad driving. Although here in LA, that could result in a massive traffic jam of stopped cars on the side of the roads.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to do a good deed, at least keep an eye on your bike. Go to your next Halloween party as a self-driving car.

And congrats, roadies. Your spandex bike shorts are now fashion forward.

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Thanks to John Hall for his very generous donation to help support this site.

And let’s all take a moment to remember the victims of last night’s shootings in Las Vegas. And dedicate ourselves to keep things like this from happening again.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: An interview with yours truly, bikeshare around the world, and what’s left after the La Tuna Fire

September 22, 2017 / / 5 comments

I’m back.

In more ways than one.

The latest computer problem was solved with the painful realization that Apple’s iCloud is not your friend. Once that was mostly shut down, the problems I was having seem to have disappeared.

But while BikinginLA was down yesterday, my words were going up somewhere else.

Wes Salmon, host of the popular Seattle podcast The Group Ride, recently made the big move down to Southern California.

And for reasons known only to him, one of the first things he wanted to do after moving here was to invite me to appear on his show.

Personally, I would have gone to Disneyland instead.

Although talking to me was about a hundred dollars cheaper. And only slightly less likely to induce you to lose your lunch.

Nevertheless, yesterday he posted his full 42 minute interview with me. Which should make the perfect soundtrack to today’s post, if your ears and eyes can manage to multitask better than mine.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, so let me know if I embarrassed myself.

Or more likely, how badly.

………

Today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Dockless bikeshare company Spin didn’t bother waiting for city permits before rolling their first bikes out in San Francisco. And San Franciscans didn’t bother waiting to break the rules on where those bikes could be left — or walking off with a wheel.

Seattle bikeshare riders aren’t being ticketed for riding without a helmet, even though they’re required in the city; meanwhile, the privately owned dockless bikeshares are looking promising. And yes, one may have something to do with the other.

Bikeshare is about to become more practical, as DC will be one of the first cities in the US to get a dockless ebike system, while Chinese dockless bikeshare company Mobike makes a beachhead in the US with its new DC system.

A South Carolina writer insists helmets should be required for bikeshare users. Although it should be noted that there have been just two bikeshare fatalities anywhere in the US, with or without helmets. Which makes it seem like a solution in search of a problem.

A new bikeshare system at a Pakistani university is bringing greater freedom to female students.

Even North Korea has jumped on the bikeshare bandwagon, as fuel supplies get tighter.

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In a heartbreaking post for anyone who knows the area, the Radavist rides through the Verdugo Mountains to examine the damage caused by the La Tuna Fire earlier this month.

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Chris Froome couldn’t make it a three-peat as Tom Dumoulin won the time trial at the world championships.

Caught on video: A Norwegian cop levels a fan who got a little too close to the action at the worlds, while bored fans cheer a leaping squirrel.

Cycling’s governing body has a new president, as France’s David Lappartient takes the helm at UCI after outgoing president Brian Cookson gets the boot.

Recently retired cyclist Tyler Farrar says despite the recent drought, US men’s cycling is just in a transitional phase, with new top riders on the horizon. One of whom may be Colorado’s Sepp Kuss, who’ll be riding for Team LottoNL-Jumbo next year.

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Local

LA Councilmember Bob Blumenfield says the old Rocketdyne site in the San Fernando Valley would be the perfect site for Amazon’s new second headquarters. However, he seems to forget that the company insists on locating in a bikeable community; something LA’s current anti-road diet, anti-bike lane hysteria is likely to preclude.

Four LA bicyclists — some of whom you may recognize — describe their favorite LA-area rides to see the city from a different perspective.

An editorial in the LA Times says entitled drivers are getting in the way of California’s climate change goals. Too bad the rest of the editorial doesn’t hit as hard as the headline.

The student newspaper at Santa Monica College offers a look at the controversy over the Venice Blvd Great Streets project.

The Argonaut says the proposed campaign to recall Mike Bonin is off to a rocky start, as both sides trade accusations.

West Hollywood is considering changes on three streets to improve bike and pedestrian safety, including sharrows and bike traffic signals. Tell them they can save the money they’d spend on sharrows, which only seem to help drivers improve their aim.

 

State

A Thousand Oaks letter writer accuses the city of social engineering by requiring apartment builders to provide “only” an average of two parking spaces per unit, and allowing adjacent street parking to count towards that requirement. Never mind that the entire history of driving could fit that description.

A Santa Barbara paper says yes, you can go grocery shopping by bicycle.

Great story. One year after a South Carolina man was nearly paralyzed in a collision while riding his bike, he’ll be running in a Napa half marathon, accompanied by the surgeon who saved him — and the driver who hit him.

Davis is the first American city to host the International Cycling Safety Conference.

 

National

Curbed offers 101 ways to improve transportation in your city, several of which include bicycling.

A writer for VeloNews says Interbike may be moving, but it’s still worth a trip to Las Vegas just to ride the trails.

The Denver Bronco’s C.J. Anderson is one of us, regaining his starting job after building endurance by riding his bike.

Denver is about to get a curb-protected bike lane in front of the city’s train station to keep drivers from blocking the lane, but only green paint on the other side of the street.

My hometown built an entire five-mile neighborhood bikeway for just $1 million, as part of the city’s low-stress bicycle network. Exactly what LA’s bike plan calls for, but none of which has been built.

An Indiana task force is considering building a 500-mile bike path around the state.

A Boston bike rider is led away in cuffs after she refused to stop for a bike cop who tried to pull her over for rolling a stop on a bike path; she said she kept riding as a protest against police ticketing bicyclists instead of drivers. Seriously, when a cop tries to pull you over, on two wheels or four, just stop already.

A road-raging off-duty New York cop faces charges for pulling a gun on a bike rider after making an illegal U-turn, then knocking the other man off his bike.

Once again, a bike rider rides to the rescue, as a bicyclist in Mississippi discovers two people who had been trapped in a car for over two hours after it had rolled over in a wooded area.

Nice gesture from a kindhearted Georgia man, who bought a homeless man a new bicycle after witnessing the other man’s bike get run over by a truck.

 

International

After a British bike chain stops advertising in right wing newspapers in response to a campaign to stop funding hate, the blacklisted Daily Mail calls it a publicity stunt, while a writer for another paper calls for journalists to boycott the company, describing it an enemy of free speech.

A cyclist in the UK could have been ticketed for a fatal crash with a pedestrian. Except he was the one who died.

An English writer says she’s fed up with selfish, racing cyclists who only have themselves to blame for not getting hell out of the way of drivers who take up the entire road with their SUVs.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker says a new cycling law to criminalize collisions with pedestrians won’t improve safety, and could delay laws that actually would; he notes that an average of just two of the 400 pedestrians killed in traffic collisions in the UK every year are hit by people on bikes.

The war on bikes goes on. A rider was injured in the UK when someone strung wire at neck level across a bike path.

The Netherlands is seeing a jump in fatal collisions as ebikes gain in popularity.

A group of wounded British vets ranging in age from 28 to 74 rode 450 miles through the French Pyrénées along some of the world’s most challenging cycling routes.

The president of Burundi is one of us, too, as he goes for a ride in the suburbs followed by armed soldiers and a full presidential convoy.

 

Finally…

Here’s the solution to hit-and-run drivers — just rip the license plate off the car that hit you. You may want to reflect on your next bicycle. No, literally.

And seriously, don’t ride your bike on the escalator.

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Thanks to John P. Lynch for his generous donation to what he describes as the BikinginLA Computer Repair Fund. 

 

Category: Bikeshare, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Dockless bikeshare may be coming to LA, and a video warning to watch where you’re riding

August 23, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Dockless bikeshare may be coming to LA, and a video warning to watch where you’re riding

Metro Bike may be saying “oh no” soon.

China’s Ofo dockless bikeshare hints that it may be coming to Los Angeles, as well as the Bay Area.

Which means we could soon be seeing abandoned yellow bicycles all over the city, like other cities where they’ve set up shop.

The question is whether they’ll start out in parts of town currently not served by the city’s bikeshare providers, or if they’ll attempt to go head-to-head with Metro Bike, WeHo Pedals and Santa Monica Breeze, among others.

Of course, where the bikes will end up is anyone’s guess.

Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

………

Speaking of Griswold, he forwards this reminder to put down your phone and watch the road ahead of you.

And no, that’s not a bicycle. But the point remains.

………

London’s Telegraph offers a podcast from stage four of the Vuelta, while Bleacher Report gives a brief recap of the day’s race. Just curious whether the lipstick kiss mark on the winner’s cheek came from one of the podium girls, or the new podium boys.

Cycling News provides quotes from riders at the finish line, most of which you could have written yourself. And takes a look at cycling’s best, worst and strangest victory salutes.

Alberto Contador is struggling with a stomach virus on what is likely to be his last grand tour.

A pro cyclist says he’s ashamed airline Aer Lingus has the Irish flag on it’s planes, after it loses his $9,400 bike, ignores him for a month, then offers the equivalent of $1,600 to make up for it.

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Local

In anticipation of Rapha Rides coming to Los Angeles in October, Bicycling writes about what makes the city a top cycling destination. But all they can come up with is a chef near Mt. Baldy, Nelson Vails’ victory in the ’84 Olympics, and a section about architecture and design that doesn’t even mention the City of Angels.

I. Martin Bicycles is hosting their Shut Up Legs ride this Saturday, with a trip to a bakery overlooking Westwood.

The LACBC is holding a Twilight Twirl ride in conjunction with Just Ride LA next Thursday.

An October ride in Santa Clarita will benefit The Painted Turtle camp for children with serious medical conditions.

 

State

Now that San Diego is building a dense, walkable and bikeable urban village near downtown, they naturally want to run a freeway connector right through the middle of it.

The 10th annual Bike the Bay will take riders over the iconic San Diego – Coronado Bay Bridge this Sunday.

Now that’s more like it. A Watsonville woman was sentenced to eleven years in prison for the DUI hit-and-run death of man riding his bike home last December.

Sad news from Modesto, where a police officer was killed in an off-duty collision while riding his bicycle.

Four San Francisco brothers were busted for stealing high-end mountain bikes in the Truckee – Lake Tahoe area, valued at over $125,000.

Police have arrested the 19-year old alleged hit-and-run driver who ran down a 15-year old Natomas boy as he rode his bike on Thursday; the victim’s grandmother feels sorry for the driver’s family, as well as her own.

Sacramento residents are worried about a proposed rest stop on a bike trail that would overlook an elementary school playground, fearing it would attract homeless people.

 

National

Trek wins a court case overturning a 10% import duty on bicycle cassettes.

Marketplace examines the new $15 Oregon bike tax. Even though the tax will go exclusively to bike infrastructure projects, it’s still largely symbolic; it’s unlikely to raise enough to make a significant difference, and mostly exists to address the mistaken complaint that bike riders don’t pay their fair share for the roads.

A pair of bicyclists on a cross-country journey across the US ride through the Colorado Rockies, and up through Wyoming to the Grand Tetons. That was my backyard growing up. And the Peak to Peak Highway leading into Estes Park was one of my favorite rides before I moved away.

A Montana bike rider was the victim of a strong arm robbery; he was reportedly beaten so badly police couldn’t interview him later.

A Good Samaritan buys a new bicycle for a 9-year old Oklahoma girl after hers was stolen from her yard.

A planned Wisconsin bike path could threaten an endangered local turtle species; it’s feared the ornate box turtles could be killed or injured by people using the pathway.

A Chicago panel discusses what’s needed to take cycling in the city to the next level.

Caught on video: New York police are looking for the hit-and-run driver who literally ran over a 16-year old girl. It’s a distant and grainy security cam view, but ask yourself if you really want to see that before you click on the link.

A former player for the New York Giants say bicycling helped ease the transition after his retirement, and provides the intense physical workout he was missing from football.

A Philadelphia Op-Ed says city council members shouldn’t have the power to block bike lanes, and should leave street planning to the experts. To which Los Angeles sighed a collective “Tell me about it.”

No bias here. The Washington Post says a bicyclist tried to abduct a woman walking on a roadway. Except what they really meant was it was a 13-year old boy who happened to be riding one.

Tampa FL considers a Vision Zero plan for one of the deadliest counties in the US.

 

International

Add these to your biking bucket list: The top ten Canadian national parks to ride in.

A man from the UK is riding the length of Ireland to raise funds for the mountain rescue team that saved him and a companion from hazardous conditions.

It takes a real jerk to push a 12-year old bike-riding girl off the sidewalk and into the street in front of oncoming traffic, whether or not she should have been riding there in the first place.

Even in the bike-friendly Netherlands, people aren’t getting enough exercise.

An Aussie writer says the bike ride doesn’t hurt, but the sudden stop after hitting a pothole does.

Singapore police arrest a hit-and-run ebike rider following a collision that killed a 78-year old man.

 

Finally…

Now you don’t have to choose whether to walk or ride a bike. Go ahead and skip the exorcism, but don’t transport your violent mentally ill patients by bicycle.

And no matter how mad you get, don’t slam your bike onto the hood of a parked car.

The car doesn’t deserve it.

And your bike sure as hell doesn’t.

 

Category: Bikeshare, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Today’s burning bikeshare news, and Westchester/ Playa NC requests road diet removal

August 17, 2017 / / 2 comments

It’s our first light news day in awhile, so let’s get right to it.

……….

Today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Caught on video: Vandalism of the Bay Area’s Ford GoBike bikeshare continues, as someone set one of the bikes on fire as it was docked.

A new Rutgers University survey shows black and Latino respondents support bike lanes and bikeshare, but concerns over crime and racial profiling have to be addressed first.

Two more dockless bikeshare companies are taking to the streets of Seattle, starting with China’s Ofo.

It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Trump Administration had a bikeshare station removed from the White House grounds, after it had been installed at the request of the previous administration.

The battle for dominance in China’s crowded bikeshare market claimed another victim as Nanking’s Ding Ding went out of business without returning customer’s deposits.

……….

In a setback for safer streets, the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa voted to send an advisory letter to CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin calling on him to “immediately reverse the lane reductions in Playa del Rey.”

The motion was approved after removing Pershing Drive from the resolution, which presumably means they want to keep that one.

……….

Local

KPCC looks at plans to revamp the area in front of Union Station to make it more inviting for people walking and biking. Even if that means eliminating some parking and reducing traffic lanes on nearby streets.

Volunteers are wanted to help clean up the Santa Clara River in Santa Clarita; free bike valet will be provided by local bike shop Performance Cyclery.

Manhattan Beach approves a 400 foot bikeway along Pollywog park to improve safety to middle school students going to and from school.

 

State

The LA Weekly asks if California’s strict DUI laws are tough enough. That’s easy. No.

San Diego authorities thought they caught a break when police detained a couple for the hit-and-run that left a bike-riding woman in a medically induced coma, but it turned out to be the wrong car. Thanks to Frank Lehnerz for the heads-up.

After dominating California high school mountain biking, recent Ramona High School graduate Gwendalyn Gibson will represent the US at the world championships in Australia next month.

Santa Barbara will get its first protected bike lane, connecting the Eastside to downtown. If you can call bendable bollards protection, that is.

No bias here. A San Luis Obispo paper says local residents aren’t happy about plans to create a bicycle boulevard. Except they’ve dropped plans for the bike boulevard, and are actually proposing a pair of protected bike lanes. And only “several” of the 60 speakers complained about the proposal.

San Francisco is planning a road diet, bike lanes and other safety improvements on one of the city’s most dangerous corridors as part of the city’s Vision Zero program.

A Sebastopol bike gear maker nearly became the victim of a patent troll.

West Sacramento is installing a road diet to improve safety for people biking and walking; as usual, some residents want it ripped out before the construction is even finished.

A Sacramento public radio station examines efforts to allow mountain biking in US wilderness areas.

Folsom will open the full 2.5 mile Johnny Cash trail this October, honoring the singer’s legendary 1968 performance at nearby Folsom Prison; artwork depicting the singer will follow in another five years.

 

National

Seattle’s police department politely suggests it has better things to do than enforce the county’s mandatory bike helmet law.

Caught on video too: Bighearted Texas paramedics make a four-year old girl’s day by giving her a bicycle one of their daughters had outgrown after they treated her for a fall.

It took a bike rider to find a pair of horses that threw their riders and ran off into a Missouri national battlefield after getting spooked by turkeys.

Nice story. When a father tweeted that he couldn’t take his little daughter to a Green Bay Packers event she’d been looking forward to, one of the Packers players volunteered to ride a bike with her to a team practice himself. Even though her father was a Vikings fan.

Kindhearted Michigan cops buy a new bicycle for a young girl after taking a report about her stolen bicycle.

A New York driver parked in a bike lane — then chased after a woman and called her a fucking bitch after she had the audacity to ride her bike around him. Apparently, she was supposed to sit there and wait until he moved his car. Or maybe she said something as she rode past.

 

International

A fan of the Nottingham soccer club is riding to all of the second-tier British team’s away games to raise money for a cancer charity; he expects to ride at least 2,249 miles before the season ends next May.

Caught on video: A Scottish van driver has to make a panic stop to avoid a bike rider who rode out directly in front of him at a rainy junction.

Self-described anarchists remove grocery store ads from Helsinki’s bikeshare bikes.

Life is cheap in Singapore, where a truck driver got a whopping four weeks for killing an ebike rider when he pulled out from an intersection without looking. But at least he was banned from driving for five years, which will likely force him to find another line of work.

 

Finally…

No, you don’t want to borrow an abandoned bike in Japan. There’s a lot of good ways to impress friends; stealing a bike isn’t one of them.

And no, those bike-shaped bike racks aren’t meant for riding.

 

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